The Walking Dead

Last week we talked about halloween and how it’s Satan’s celebration of all things dead and evil coming back to life to create fear. There is also a very popular TV show that has been on for a long time, it’s called the walking dead. It was based on the very idea of death and evil coming back to life as zombies in order to create fear. But here’s the secret to understand why satan wants Halloween and The Walking Dead to be his scare tactics. He’s just twisting what God already set in motion. That’s always his plan. He just takes the truth of what God said and distorts it just enough to confuse people and cause them to doubt God. Now, I’m not talking about God creating zombies or ghosts. I’m talking about God raising people from the dead. You see, Satan isn’t in the business of bringing people back from the dead. The bible is clear that he is a thief and all he does is steal, kill and destroy. He’s not about bringing life, he’s about bringing death and fear. God is the one who brings people back to life. Jesus says this in John chapter 10 and verse 10. John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Tonight we are going to look at several times in the Bible where people were raised from the dead. And when God does it, it doesn’t create fear, it creates celebrations. Let’s start in 2nd Kings with a very short story about a guy who’s name we don’t even know.

2 Kings 13:20-21 “20 Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.” Wait a minute, what? So Elisha has died and was buried. And a while later there were some Israelites having a funeral for another guy, and as they were, they saw some Moabite bandits headed towards them. So in their haste to get away they just threw their dead friend into the tomb of Elisha. And when the dead man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, the guy came back to life. Can you imagine how unusual it would be to wake up in a tomb, on a pile of bones, with bandits headed toward you. And just where were your friends who put your there? That should make you want to ask, who was this Elisha guy, that the power of God was so strong on him that even his dry bones had enough power left in them to raise the dead? Elisha had been the assistant to Elijah. He had been working with Elijah the prophet for a while and had witnessed the power of God at work in Elijah’s life. So when it came time for Elijah to leave earth, he asked Elisha what he could do for him as he took over the job of prophet.

Notice that I didn’t say it was time for Elijah to die, but just to leave the earth. Thats because Elijah didn’t die, but he certainly did leave the earth in a dramatic way. 2 Kings 2:8-11 “8 Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” 10 He said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. 2 Kings 2:14 He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over. Elijah was the prophet that called down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice to prove that God was the true God in Israel. Now, Elisha had a very strong and powerful, double portion of the Spirit of God on his life. That’s who Elisha was. He was involved in many miracles. As a matter of fact, this wasn’t the only time we read about Elisha being involved with raising someone from the dead. There’s another story that Elisha was involved in. It’s about a certain woman’s son. It’s found in 2 Kings chapter 4.

We don’t have time tonight to read then entire story, but I’ll read some and then walk you through the highlights. 2 Kings 4:8-10 “8 Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. And so it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. 9 She said to her husband, “Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. 10 Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.” This prominent lady and her husband go ahead and build the room and after they had been taking care of Elisha for a while, he decided that he wanted to do something for them. 2 Kings 4:14-17 “14 So he said, “What then is to be done for her?” And Gehazi answered, “Truly she has no son and her husband is old.” 15 He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 Then he said, “At this season next year you will embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.” 17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.” Elisha wasn’t playing around. When he gave a gift, it was the real deal. He knew what her heart wanted most. That’s why the woman said for him not to lie to her about this, because she couldn’t deal with the heartbreak of it not being true. Well that same time the next year she had given birth to a son, just as Elisha said. She had been given the desire of her heart.

But several years later, when the child was older, he was out working with his father in the field when he suddenly got a terrible headache. They took him home to his mother and he sat on her lap for a while, but ended up dying around noon that day. She laid him on the bed in the room they had built for Elisha and then she went to get Elisha. When Elisha saw her coming, his assistant was told to go ask and see if everything was ok. 2 Kings 4:26 “26 Please run now to meet her and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.” Hang on. We know that the fact in this situation was that her son was dead, but look at the faith she showed when she said “It is well.” She didn’t address the fact, she addressed the truth. The truth was that, it was well, because her faith was in God and His promise. When she got to Elisha, she got right to the point. 2 Kings 4:28 Then she said, “Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?” Elisha then realized what had happened and they left to take care of the problem. 2 Kings 4:32-33 “32 When Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed. 33 So he entered and shut the door behind them both and prayed to the Lord.” The Lord answered Elisha’s prayer and the boy came back to life.

The enemy tried to steal, kill and destroy what this woman wanted more than anything. And why was she targeted? Because she and her husband were supporting Elisha while he did God’s work. But despite being in a tremendously difficult situation, she remained confident in God’s promise. Can you do that? Can you remain steadfast, trusting in what God has said, instead of giving in to the fear, confusion and doubt created by the circumstance you find yourself in? When you find yourself in a difficult situation, will you keep repeating the facts of that situation to the people you come in contact with, or will you speak the truth of the power of God to turn it around? You have to stop magnifying your problems in your mind, because what you magnify, gets bigger, right? No, the reality is that it doesn’t actually get bigger, you just see it as bigger. In the gospel of John we read about another guy who was raised from the dead. You’ve probably heard of him. His name was Lazarus. John 11:38-40 “38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Jesus is asking her to believe the truth of His words, not the facts of her situation. Do you see the theme that runs from the Old Testament to the New Testament? Facts and truth are not the same. The facts can change from minute to minute, but the truth

of God’s word is sure and unchanging. Just watch how the facts of Lazarus’s situation are about to change. John 11:41-44 “41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” There you go. The facts of that situation changed drastically, but the truth of God’s word held fast. Here’s another story of the dead coming back to life that you may not be familiar with. Of course we all know that Jesus was raised from the dead. It’s the foundation of our belief about salvation. The bible says if we believe with our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with our mouth that He is Lord, we will be saved. But when Jesus was crucified and died, there are a couple of verses in Matthew that talk about what else happened at that moment. Matthew 27:50-53 “50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Hang on, because something very strange is about to happen.

52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” So the tombs of the saints were opened and their bodies were raised when Jesus died. And then when He was resurrected, they came out and went into the city where people saw them. That must have been an interesting thing, to be walking down the street and encounter someone that you know has been dead for a while. Thats’s the thing about Jesus. In His death, He brought life. This brings me to the last group of people who went from death to life. Us. Look at how scripture describes what has happened to those of us who have believed that God raised Jesus from the dead and have confessed with our mouth that He is Lord. Ephesians 2:4-9 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The Apostle Paul is describing our situation before we accept Jesus and then afterward. He says we have gone from a spiritual death, to a spiritual life. And it is based strictly on God’s work not ours.

Galatians 5:24-25 “24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” As Christians, we are supposed to be dead to our flesh and living by the Holy Spirit. We are the walking dead. And remember, you can’t hurt a dead man. So if you find yourself being offended or having your feelings hurt, there must be a part of your flesh that is trying to live again. Do you remember last week when I said that as Christians we are not suppose to be afraid of physical death? That’s because we’ve got everything to look forward to in the next life. When our time here on earth is over and God has accomplished His will and purpose for us here, we will transition to our next assignment. That will be with God for eternity. We will be spiritually alive for ever. Now I want to be sure you understand what I’m saying. I’ve said before that everyone will live forever, but the question of where is what is really at stake. And it is certainly true that no one will cease to exist when their physical body expires. You see, if you haven’t accepted the gift that God has offered through the sacrifice of Jesus then you are currently spiritually dead, but physically alive. If you die physically and haven’t accepted God’s salvation gift, then you will be dead spiritually for eternity. Being spiritually dead means that you are separated from God in hell. Once you accept His gift you will be physically alive and also spiritually alive. And that spiritual life will be eternal with God in heaven.